As I taunt folks on BlueSky, they answer, "well? What are we supposed to do?!?" <- WTF?
Winnipeg is vulnerable to siege. I'll say that here. Also I'll say that Southwestern Ontario is far too close to the USA for my taste! Luckily, Lake Winnipeg is almost 500 km long and there are lots of hidey spots, walleye and deer. Not sure about scurvy at this point. ELBOWS UP!
Ah, excellent survival thinking! If you found yourself trapped in the Canadian Shield Boreal Forest, you'd want to prevent scurvy by getting enough **vitamin C**—which is tricky since it’s not naturally stored in the body and can break down quickly when exposed to heat. Luckily, the boreal forest offers some surprisingly rich sources of vitamin C if you know where to look:
### 🌲 **Sources of Vitamin C in the Boreal Forest:**
#### 🌿 **1. Pine and Spruce Needle Tea**
- Pine and spruce needles are loaded with vitamin C—**up to 5 times more than lemons** by weight!
- To prepare:
- Gather fresh, young green needles (avoid yew, which is toxic).
- Steep (don’t boil) the needles in hot water for about 10 minutes to avoid breaking down the vitamin C.
- Strain and drink.
#### 🍓 **2. Wild Berries** (seasonal)
- **High vitamin C berries** include:
- **Blueberries**
- **Raspberries**
- **Cloudberries**
- **Lingonberries**
- **Currants**
- Best eaten raw to preserve vitamin C content.
#### 🍀 **3. Rose Hips** (late summer and fall)
- The fruit of wild roses is incredibly high in vitamin C.
- To prepare:
- Remove the seeds and fine hairs inside (they can irritate the digestive tract).
- Eat raw or steep into tea (don't boil!).
#### 🍃 **4. Birch or Willow Bark Tea**
- Inner bark can be stripped and steeped for nutrients, though not as rich as pine needles.
- Willow bark also contains **salicin** (natural aspirin), so bonus pain relief!
#### 🌱 **5. Fireweed Shoots and Leaves**
- Young fireweed shoots and leaves are edible and have some vitamin C content.
- Best eaten raw or lightly steamed.
### ⚠️ **What to Avoid:**
🚫 **Yew** – Needles and berries are highly toxic.
🚫 **Elderberry** – Raw berries and plant parts are toxic unless cooked.
🚫 **Hemlock** – Poisonous and can look similar to other conifers.
### ✅ **Strategy:**
- Pine needle tea + rose hips = solid vitamin C foundation.
- Supplement with wild berries when in season.
- Rotate sources to avoid over-relying on one type of plant.
You'd be able to stave off scurvy pretty effectively with a bit of bushcraft knowledge! Want to go deeper on any of these? 🌲😎
I’m sick of hearing my fellow Americans saying “this is not who we are” YES it is! That orange turd just gave you permission to be your truly awful self! I’ve lost friends & family because of him. What is heartbreaking is seeing the Democratic Party sit on its hands. This is only going to get worse before it gets better. Canadians as well as all other countries should be actively working to protect themselves
Agree. We have no defense for our current situation. We chose misogyny and racism, and facism, instead of a qualified black woman. We’re protesting but some of our political leaders are still treating politics as they did pre-45. This is not that world.
My kid is Canadian through their dad and lives there. You do what you have to in order to remain True North Strong and Free. We’ll try and bring sanity back, or at least hold the line, through the work of action and voting.
Yes there seems to be an issue of who is sane and who is not. They need to fix it. We can’t.
AND….. I’m not so sure that pretending to play the % Tariff game with TRUMP will make anything better at this time. Cool heads should get together with some real smart cooler heads and come up with at a minimum, a 4 year plan and hope he leaves office when he is supposed to. Then we shall see what happens. a civil war on their part may be the answer. BRITTLESTAR. Get back to being normal is what we really need. I need some laughs.
I need to work on mon Francais, as I figure Quebec will maintain the strongest resistance, seeing as the annexation threatener and decreer of "English Only" USA never seems to acknowledge we're a bilingual country. Hell, the last of us might have to flee to St. Pierre Et Miquelon!
As I taunt folks on BlueSky, they answer, "well? What are we supposed to do?!?" <- WTF?
Winnipeg is vulnerable to siege. I'll say that here. Also I'll say that Southwestern Ontario is far too close to the USA for my taste! Luckily, Lake Winnipeg is almost 500 km long and there are lots of hidey spots, walleye and deer. Not sure about scurvy at this point. ELBOWS UP!
The AI has suggestions for us!
Ah, excellent survival thinking! If you found yourself trapped in the Canadian Shield Boreal Forest, you'd want to prevent scurvy by getting enough **vitamin C**—which is tricky since it’s not naturally stored in the body and can break down quickly when exposed to heat. Luckily, the boreal forest offers some surprisingly rich sources of vitamin C if you know where to look:
### 🌲 **Sources of Vitamin C in the Boreal Forest:**
#### 🌿 **1. Pine and Spruce Needle Tea**
- Pine and spruce needles are loaded with vitamin C—**up to 5 times more than lemons** by weight!
- To prepare:
- Gather fresh, young green needles (avoid yew, which is toxic).
- Steep (don’t boil) the needles in hot water for about 10 minutes to avoid breaking down the vitamin C.
- Strain and drink.
#### 🍓 **2. Wild Berries** (seasonal)
- **High vitamin C berries** include:
- **Blueberries**
- **Raspberries**
- **Cloudberries**
- **Lingonberries**
- **Currants**
- Best eaten raw to preserve vitamin C content.
#### 🍀 **3. Rose Hips** (late summer and fall)
- The fruit of wild roses is incredibly high in vitamin C.
- To prepare:
- Remove the seeds and fine hairs inside (they can irritate the digestive tract).
- Eat raw or steep into tea (don't boil!).
#### 🍃 **4. Birch or Willow Bark Tea**
- Inner bark can be stripped and steeped for nutrients, though not as rich as pine needles.
- Willow bark also contains **salicin** (natural aspirin), so bonus pain relief!
#### 🌱 **5. Fireweed Shoots and Leaves**
- Young fireweed shoots and leaves are edible and have some vitamin C content.
- Best eaten raw or lightly steamed.
### ⚠️ **What to Avoid:**
🚫 **Yew** – Needles and berries are highly toxic.
🚫 **Elderberry** – Raw berries and plant parts are toxic unless cooked.
🚫 **Hemlock** – Poisonous and can look similar to other conifers.
### ✅ **Strategy:**
- Pine needle tea + rose hips = solid vitamin C foundation.
- Supplement with wild berries when in season.
- Rotate sources to avoid over-relying on one type of plant.
You'd be able to stave off scurvy pretty effectively with a bit of bushcraft knowledge! Want to go deeper on any of these? 🌲😎
I’m sick of hearing my fellow Americans saying “this is not who we are” YES it is! That orange turd just gave you permission to be your truly awful self! I’ve lost friends & family because of him. What is heartbreaking is seeing the Democratic Party sit on its hands. This is only going to get worse before it gets better. Canadians as well as all other countries should be actively working to protect themselves
I have been saying this for months now. Sick of hearing it's not my fault. Yes it fucking is! Land of the free? Not anymore.
Agree. We have no defense for our current situation. We chose misogyny and racism, and facism, instead of a qualified black woman. We’re protesting but some of our political leaders are still treating politics as they did pre-45. This is not that world.
My kid is Canadian through their dad and lives there. You do what you have to in order to remain True North Strong and Free. We’ll try and bring sanity back, or at least hold the line, through the work of action and voting.
Sincerely,
A Virginian
Yes there seems to be an issue of who is sane and who is not. They need to fix it. We can’t.
AND….. I’m not so sure that pretending to play the % Tariff game with TRUMP will make anything better at this time. Cool heads should get together with some real smart cooler heads and come up with at a minimum, a 4 year plan and hope he leaves office when he is supposed to. Then we shall see what happens. a civil war on their part may be the answer. BRITTLESTAR. Get back to being normal is what we really need. I need some laughs.
Grab the wheel....three words that make the absolute effing point. Thank you for #commonsensejournalism once again.
I need to work on mon Francais, as I figure Quebec will maintain the strongest resistance, seeing as the annexation threatener and decreer of "English Only" USA never seems to acknowledge we're a bilingual country. Hell, the last of us might have to flee to St. Pierre Et Miquelon!
_les coudes en haut!_